Tag Archives: Revisionist history

There are a significant number of prominent people in Japan who have been attempting for years to sell their nation a version of World War II that few, if any, historians outside of Japan would accept as having any relation to the reality of what happened in the war. Organizers of a controversial essay contest supported former General Toshio Tamagami, who was fired, for insisting in an essay that Japan was a victim and the cause of the war was the United States. According to this version, the United States tricked Japan into attacking Pearl Harbor. However, this version ignores that in 1936, five years prior to Pearl Harbor, Japan invaded China and killed over four million people. Tamagami claims Asian nations welcomed the Japanese taking over their nation. Of course, the revolt against Japanese occupation was led by native Vietnamese, many of whom later became the communist leaders of Vietnam.

It is time for Japanese educators to follow the example of Germany and come to grips with their brutality during WWII. The thousands of Korean women did not welcome Japanese conquerors, the Koreans who were subjected to medical experiments by criminal Japanese doctors did not welcome the Japanese conquerors. The brutality of Japanese behavior in WWII must be confronted in Japanese schools in order to help the nation find its soul.